A Lesson for life.

To our newest submariner,

Hello son, so you are our new sailor, yes?  Are you ready to kick ass and take names on one of the world’s finest and most devastating warships?  Be advised kid, we are here standing by to visit violence upon those who would wish our country harm.  I am not talking about some little missile that can take out a building; I am talking about missiles with the capability to level entire countries.  So are you ready to get your hands dirty and start doing what needs to be done to protect the 314,000,000 people of the United States of America?  Well not so fast, you may be all bright eyed and bushy tailed, but as it stands you are nothing but a N.U.B. or Non Useful Body.  You have a stack of qualification cards to complete before you can even think about doing anything useful for the ship.  Along with a bigger stack of qual cards to complete before you can start helping out your division.  When you first start out it will seem extremely overwhelming.  They throw so many tasks at you, then the next time they see you, they start ranting and raving about how they aren’t done yet.  Fear not little buddy, as long as you keep your feet to the deck plate and keep working on your quals, you will do just fine.  The following is an introduction to you qualification path along with the experience I had while qualifying aboard this mighty warship which is when I learned the most important lesson in my life so far.

I mentioned two different stacks of qual cards that you have to work on but I am going to focus on one for now which is your submarine qualifications.  This is the most important qualification you will ever complete while in the navy.  You have 12 months to complete this one and if you fail to complete it on time you will be recommended for separation from the submarine fleet.  This card is so important because the knowledge you gain from it will ensure that you are able to fight the ship in the case of a fire or other casualty.  It basically represents the crews trust in you to have their back.  You will learn the basics of how to operate nearly every piece of equipment on this boat as well as the purpose for each.  From the engine room and the nuclear reactor to the sonar dome, you will learn it all along with damage control measures for casualties.  It is broken down into five phases and each phase has different sections for the different systems in that category.  The first phase is general submarine orientation which consists of the basics such as how to talk on the communication circuit on the boat and where everything is.  The second is all about damage control, how to fight a fire, stop flooding, or what to do in case of a torpedo attack.  The third is where just qualifying to stand two watches.  The fourth however is where the rubber meets the road.  This phase is all about the different systems on the boat.  Such as the systems that are used to dive and surface the boat or the system that is used to turn a drop of seawater into electricity. The final phase is the final examination which I will explain in more detail further on.  The most important advice I have for this card is to not fall behind!  Once you do it is even harder to catch up than it was to stay even.  Also you can group some of the knowledge factors together as some are very similar.  When you go for the knowledge factors it helps to take a buddy with you as well so that he can answer anything you don’t know.

When you complete all the checkouts on your qual card the senior leadership aboard the great ship USS Nebraska will test your knowledge as well as your mettle in what is known as a husker run which is part of your final examination.  This is a comprehensive practical and knowledge based test that will prove you have what it takes to join the submarine community.  During mine I learned the most important thing about myself.  Approximately 4 years ago I was in the scullery (dishwashing room) washing dishes and minding my own business when a first class petty officer ran up to me yelling “Husker Run, Husker Run Petty Officer Senn.  Flooding in the Engine Room GO GO GO!”  I ran back to the engine room as fast as I could while grabbing the equipment I would need to fight the casualty.  Once I got back there I paused to assess the situation.  Immediately people started to panic and they turned to me for answers, “What do we do Senn?”  Everyone was looking to me for the answers.  I was lost at first and overwhelmed with the sudden dependence of others on my knowledge and as they kept reminding me, the longer I hesitated the more people would die.  Suddenly, like a dam bursting, the knowledge that I had spent the last 12 months learning flooded into my mind.  Now knowing what to do and actually doing and/or directing others to do it is totally different.  This is where I learned my most valuable lesson, confidence in myself.  This first casualty set the tone for the rest.  After the flooding I went to a room with a couple of senior enlisted personnel and an officer who all fired off questions faster than I could think. Following that was a fire in the systems that basically recycle the air in the sub along with another session of questioning.  Wrapping up the exam was a hydraulic rupture which I conquered flawlessly.

 After the examination was an award ceremony in which the captain of the boat himself awarded me with the submarine qualification insignia.  This is a ceremony that is steeped in tradition.  My chief read a story from some of the histories of the submarine force which describes the qualities that are necessary for a submariner.  The histories exemplify the Navy’s core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment.  Before that day I never really had a sense of confidence in myself but as I was standing there having saved the theoretical lives of 150 people, I learned to trust in myself and what I had learned.  From that day forward I have been able to rapidly assess a situation and take the appropriate actions without second guessing myself.  Hopefully you will gain the same confidence as I did during your husker run and I wish you the best of luck.


Sincerely,
MT2/SS Lee Senn